A woman speaks out about the elk hoof disease problem during the questions and answer portion of a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife meeting on the "hoof rot" situation in the area at the V.R. Lee Community Building in Chehalis in April 2014.
With many in camouflage and work boots, concerned hunters and landowners filled the V.R. Lee Community Building in Chehalis Wednesday night to learn what the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife or WDFW, is doing to to address the hoof rot disease plaguing elk in Southwest Washington.
The official explanations did little to placate a skeptical audience.
A panel of five state wildlife officials were on hand to explain that researchers now believe that hoof rot — a disease that causes elk hooves to become deformed with lesions and eventually fall off — is caused by treponema, a bacteria known to infect cattle and sheep across the world.
“Exhaustive pathological work has been conducted,” Sandra Jonker, regional wildlife program manager, said. “The challenge is managing the disease. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Wildlife officials started receiving sporadic reports of infected elk in the Cowlitz River Basin in the mid-1990s, but the number exploded in 2008, when reports started coming in from Pacific, Lewis and Clark counties. Over the next several years, researchers harvested 43 elk ranging in age from fetuses to adulthood and shared tissue samples with several laboratories.
“Three independent labs received samples,” Jonkers said. “All three have found treponema.”
Contrary to some popular hoof rot theories, WDFW veterinarian Kristen Mansfield said, there is no scientific evidence that herbicides sprayed on Weyerhaeuser land or malnourishment are the cause.
In fact, she said that of the nine criteria scientists use to identify a disease, treponema fits six. She went on to explain that treponema is typically found in dairy cows, and it’s her observation that the that the 2008 hoof rot spike happened shortly after the widespread floods of December 2007.
“I was hesitant to even show this slide,” Mansfield said over the rumblings of the crowd. “Could it be the known organism was in dairies, the flood spread it out all over the landscape? I’ll never be able to test it.”
Mansfield said that when cows or sheep contract the bacteria, farmers treat it with antibacterial baths, cleaning the hooves and moving the animals to dry ground. That process would be too difficult to attempt with wild elk herds, especially since treponema is found in the wet soil, characteristic of Southwest Washington.
During the question and answer session, many in the audience questioned if the state would adequately finance research for a cure. Many balked repeatedly at every reassurance from scientists that elk meat was safe to eat since the infection doesn’t spread beyond the animals’ hooves. Some expressed their fears over the future health of Washington elk.
“With all these people here who’ve seen what’s happening out there, when do you consider an animal extinct in Western Washington?” asked area resident Cecilia Kolano. “For the sake of my grandkids, when do we say elk aren’t healthy and we need to do something about it?”
Regional Wildlife Program Manager Mick Cope pointed out that $50,000 has already been spent on hoof rot research and the state Legislature recently appropriated an additional $200,000.
Jonker explained that things aren’t that bad yet, but the state doesn’t know exactly how many animals are impacted, but researchers are trying to figure that out.
At several points, people in the audience said they’d do whatever they could to help the WDFW study and treat the elk, they just want to see things improve.
“We’re here because we’re really concerned about the elk,” said audience member Karl Von Bargen.
The meeting was the fourth and final scheduled meeting hosted by WDFW officials. Previous gatherings took place in Vancouver, Longview and Cathlamet.
